Of Gods and Monsters
by andreagracielapopo
Summary: It hates, it kills, it craves: the monster in his mind always wins. Until it doesn't. A self-loathing anti-hero's journey of denial. Darcy Lewis/Bruce Banner/Hulk AU.


A/N:I don't know why I am writing this story, to be honest. I feel that sometimes my fangirly-ness overcomes my ability to reason, and therefore bad decisions are made. I hope that you can forgive my ability to write without complete knowledge of the Marvel Universe as my love for Mark Ruffalo and need for Bruce Banner to have a legitimate love life trumps everything. I would love to take any advice you may have on my poor writing skills, lack of Marvel knowledge or general appreciation for Bruce/Darcy. The title of my little adventure is from Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey not Lana Del Rey. Reviews are welcome; haters shall be fed to a Bilgesnipe.

P.S. I am still looking for a Beta Reader if anyone is interested.

Disclaimer: I am only borrowing.

* * *

><p>Of Gods and Monsters<p>

Chapter One: Green Apples, Green Eyes

Quote: "I sit around and wonder about the fire in your eyes, the movement of your fingers, the way you slowly complicate my life." –Unknown

May 7, 2012 – Three days after the Battle of New York

"So you're really leaving…" Tony said as he walked up to the doorframe and leaned on it, crossing his arms in discontent. Dr. Robert "Bruce" Banner a.k.a. the Hulk looked up from where he was meticulously folding his notes into small squares so that they fit into his travel bag better.

"I don't think it is a good idea if I stay. There's just too much at stake…" Bruce mumbled quietly, determined to finish his task.

"That's it then? You're giving up?"

"Don't be facetious Tony, it doesn't suit you," he said. Bruce sighed and ran a shaky hand through his hair.

The Battle of New York – or so it had been dubbed by the media – had not been something he had wanted. He was torn between being able to help those caught up in the crossfire and cause more damage if he lost control. He had ended up aiding his fellow "team members", or whatever they were, but only to release year's worth of pent up rage out on the (somewhat deserving) alien invaders. He didn't like being manipulated; the enjoyment he got out of the battle was not something he wanted to relish in.

Fury had promised him that he was not going to be used as a weapon, but that had only lasted until the battle came and emotional blackmail against Tony and Steve Rogers won out. He didn't want to do this: he didn't want to be the hero or the monster. He didn't want to be a part of any of this, this, whatever _this_ was. He didn't want to like being _him_.

He just wanted to go home. But, that wasn't an option, anymore.

So he would go back to India, or maybe flee to Southeast Asia, and return to healing with medicine and meditation. He could help others. He could do good again. He could walk away and leave this life behind as if it had never happened to begin with. He grabbed another few pages and began to fold them neatly in tight squares with deep creases.

"Being a coward doesn't suit you," Tony replied. Bruce flinched at that. Tony walked further into the room grabbed the note out of his hands and threw it on the adjacent nightstand. Bruce frowned at him, but only picked up another small stack and continued fidgeting with the papers.

We can work on it together. We will find a balance between you and the Other Guy. It's not just black and white with him you must see that. You have the potential for something greater and you are going to waste it away. Waste away one of the greatest minds of this century to go be a glorified nursemaid? I think not."

"You don't have a say here. You don't have to live with this thing inside you trying to claw its way out when all he wants to do his hurt and, and…" Bruce squared up with him, folding his arms over his chest before squeezing his eyes shut and taking a handful of hard breaths. It was like trying to breathe after having been forced underwater. '_Breathe Bruce, breathe…' _he said to himself trying to tap down the annoyance that was Tony Stark.

"Kill, not saying doesn't mean it didn't happen. You went what six years on the run? Do you really want to continue with that lifestyle, always looking over your shoulder to see what shadow comes to get you next? Waiting and hoping this time will be better than the last. That maybe now you will have the restraint to keep him under your tightly wrapped and fading control. Maybe pretend that you think everything is all right with the world as long as SHIELD or the army or I don't fucking know stops keeping tabs on you?" Tony raised an eyebrow; his voice was haughty when he knew he was winning. He was right but that didn't mean Bruce had to like any of it.

"I was _fine_; I didn't need to be dragged back into this mess. I don't need to be here; I don't want to be here. The only reason I was brought in to begin with was not for my _great_ mind as you put it but because SHIELD needed a bigger gun, a bigger weapon to use against their enemies. I have lost control and have hurt and killed people Tony. I destroyed lives, and you don't get to belittle me for your own amusement. Don't act so high and mighty: it was you who made a contract with SHIELD and Ross, your weapons used to better _control_ me, your designs meant to keep me contained, so don't act like you want me here as a friend. You don't want _me_ you want _him_," he spat out. He clenched his fists and dug them into the sides of his chest a little more, compacting himself into a tight ball as he hunched over trying to maintain control of _him_. Bruce squeezed shut his eyes again, trying to ignore the anger Tony was building inside of him, but it wasn't working. Tony didn't seem to care if he was in danger or not.

"Yes, I made them; those were some of Stark Industries' best designs. And fuck yeah, I made contract with SHIELD, but if you think that is the only reason I need you here, that the Avengers need you here, than you are sorely mistaken. If you want to get rid of the Hulk so be it, but don't think I will allow you to stand in the way of your potential for something greater, to use your talents to help others instead of you losing control because you're too inept to keep him down by yourself. You're too damn proud to ask for help after what happened in Harlem. And you're too damn proud to use what you have to help those who need it most."

"Pride cometh before the fall," he whispered hoarsely.

"Pride is what made you the Hulk to begin with," Tony said pointedly.

Bright green eyes looked up at Tony angrily but quickly muted back to a dark brown; Tony didn't stand down and starred him down. Bruce dropped down and sat on the bed putting his face in his hands. He was right.

"You can call the shots: if you want to do this I won't stop you, fuck I'll lend you the jet. But if you want to finally learn to control him and make something of Mr. Hyde instead of just waiting for the pot to boil over instead then I think I can help you out." Tony said quietly.

"You aren't going to give up, are you?" Bruce asked in a small and defeated voice.

"I always get what I want, it's my superpower. Pepper will spruce up the rooms while we continue construction on the building," Tony said as he pulled out his phone, turned and started leaving the room, "JARVIS make sure that Bruce here is comfortable, he will be staying with us for a while."

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><p>April 18, 2014<p>

When Darcy Marie Lewis first lost Dr. Jane Doesn't-Have-Any-Manners Foster to the maze that was SHIELD she had been slightly annoyed and had asked the not-so-nice "agents" she ran into if they had seen her. Being dismissed she had only egged her on more. After about thirty minutes of searching she finally caught sight of Jane making her down the hall, but lost her once again several seconds later when Jane disappeared into an elevator yelling at one of the many "secret agent men' manhandling her 'again'.

She tried yelling at her, much to the annoyance of the people around Darcy, but was unable to make it to the elevator in time. She sighed heavily and swung her leather Chinese knockoff bag back over her shoulder. '_Jane!'_ she thought angrily trying to perform voodoo spells in her head as if she could magically make her listen to the command telekinetically.

She had walked around lazily through some of the different and interesting floors of the building until one of the agents grabbed her and asked why she was roaming without permission.

"I lost my scientist," she explained rather simply. And when the rather bald and intimidating looking man just raised an eyebrow at her as if saying '_yeah, that makes a boatload of sense'_ did she know she needed to go into detail a little more. She huffed before taking a deep breadth to explain.

"So I'm walking around campus right, because even though I have officially graduated from my bachelors and am half-way done with my law degree, I am still tracking down Jane's shit. She's been corresponding with the other physicists at Culver while she was off in fucking Science Land in Sweden. It was all good but then SHIELD is like 'nope, we can't have you living a normal life, you're going into protective custody!' and ship my ass off to the Sweden with her; I didn't even get to tell my dad!"

"And then I get set off to London and don't even get me started about the shit that went down with the Aether and Male-something-or-other. And Jane was in another dimension and Erik was running around naked. I was super upset because I lost my intern. I go back to Cali after a horrible flight and layover in Dallas and when I get home there is just so much to do. I have to graduate, get an apartment, get an actual internship in my field, and clean up Jane's old office from when SHIELD stole everything the first time. Because they seriously left it like crap and it was just a huge mess."

"Then yesterday I get approached by these two _huge_ and I do mean like WWE sized dudes who want me to go with them and I am like 'thanks, but no thanks', and I stunned their asses with my handy little Taser – it is totally legal by the way – and they aren't too happy so yet another wannabe Dwayne Johnson in a Gucci suit comes out of nowhere and grabs my ass throws me in the back of a truck and ships my ass off to Washington, D.C. I didn't even get to pack anything! He even took my cell phone when I tried calling my dad and Jane for help."

"But then I come to discover that this is all Jane's fault. She had requested that I come with her to do research, and she didn't even ask me. Well I mean technically she did but I didn't have time to go check my Facebook because I didn't even know she even had that thing and BAM! So some wannabe 007 tells me that I can't continue my studies and I only have two years left. I kind of wanted my last college hurrah you know."

"So I meet up today with Jane because she's like dying to look at her lab, and is contracted to work for SHIELD or Tony Stark or who fucking ever runs this place, and even though I have now have a degree in political science and experience in public relations not fucking science-y science, I still get dragged off. BUT only to have her ditch me! She _ditches_ me! I mean come on what is a girl to do but find her lost buddy ol' pal who starts working for the very government agency that stole all her stuff to begin with and still owes me an IPod by the way –"

Agent shiny head puts up a hand to get her to stop her rant, "I get it."

"I told you I lost my scientist' you just didn't want to listen, " she says exasperated. Then Agent Must-Be-Mr.-Clean's-Evil-Twin proceeded to walk away at a rather quick and efficient pace.

"Keep up," he said shortly, and she followed after him. They walked the maze in oppressing silence for three minutes until she followed him to a nondescript elevator. It opened when he punched in a code on the side panel and she entered behind him in absolute silence.

As the elevator made it's way down (or up she really couldn't tell in this awkward thing) she stared at the back of his cue ball dome until he turned and glared at her.

"So you work for a super secret spy agency…mom must be so proud," she said with dry sarcasm. He tensed when she spoke and rolled his shoulders before ignoring her completely until the doors opened again a few minutes later.

'_Sheesh! How big was the Triskelion?'_

He pushed her out the door, and she doesn't even have the time to ask Vin Diesel where he sent her. Down the long hallway lit brightly from overhead fluorescents are labs on either side of her. It is eerily quiet despite the activity in each individual room, and as she walks down her boots click loudly on the waxed dark floor. She peered in through each one to see what each lab holds, now fully accustomed to nerds being nerdy and conquering the world with their science-y shit. At the end of the long hallway sat a lone room that was completely closed off. No windows just a thick black door that was slightly ajar.

Her mind immediately wanders to an Oscar Wilde quote about not resisting temptation and makes her way down smiling wickedly hoping to find something truly interesting hidden in the bowls of a lab tucked tightly inside super secret spy organization.

Strutting her way over she knocked on the door and peered inside exclaiming, "Lucy, I'm home!" Disappointed by the lack or scary purple mutant monsters, she stared dully at the sole occupant of the room: a shabbily dressed man was looking into a microscope and was ferociously scribbling things down into a pad of paper on his lap as his left knee bounced up and down. Scientists, she discovered quite quickly with Jane, _all_ had selective hearing.

She wandered around the room, hoping that maybe in a few minutes he would look up and notice her and she would get to see what hidden objects this room contained. It looked pretty normal but as she continued wandering she realized that all the tables and chairs had been oddly bolted to the floor. The door she had walked through was fairly thick and the room had a suffocating jail like feel about it. There were no windows and the only lights came from the garishly bright screens and the fluorescent lights that hummed above her. The room was an eclectic mix of computers, physics and biology equipment, scattered papers and chewed pens; she only knew this because half of the stuff she recognized from Jane's office (offices?) and the other half from Bill Nye the Science Guy. There was an untouched plate of squash spaghetti on the corner lab bench and a green apple. She picked it up and stared at it. She had never known a scientist to eat so healthily. Jane and Erik's diet mostly consisted of cheap Ramen, cinnamon Pop Tarts, greasy pizza, Nutella and Swedish candy. She sat at the only other available stool, directly across from mystery man and waited for him to notice her.

"Guess this might be awhile?" she asked him after having waited a few minutes. She desperately wanted her IPod, or her phone, or a fucking book. He looked up rather quickly when his pen dropped but failed to notice her. Picking another one from the table and not even bothering to get it from the floor, he mumbled to himself in another language ('_geniuses' man'_) and began transcribing his notes from pad to computer, sticking his pen in his mouth and chewing on it rather eagerly.

Mr. Mystery, as she now thought of him in her head, was really hot. He couldn't have been in his fifties; there was no way. But the hair suggested maybe his early forties or late thirties. He had patches of thin white and gray weaving their way through his dark and unruly hair, which housed a pair of rather smudged glasses. His face held only the lines of a man who squinted and at a screen for too long and frowned when focusing on a problem. His eyes were a dark brown were intense with focus, and his mouth was turned downward in focus; his cheeks and neck were covered in a five o'clock shadow that was trying to grow into a peppered beard. He grunted quietly as he typed rather inefficiently with one hand. Setting the pad of paper down he scratched his beard and leaned forward more squinting at the screen, giving her an eyeful down his very wrinkled and slightly haphazardly buttoned shirt.

He had nice pecs covered in thick curly hair. She loved a man with chest hair; it was her one true weakness. Her first crush had been on one of the wrestler's from her high school, a blonde bore named Charlie with a cropped military style haircut and blue eyes. She would gaggle at him stupidly in class, unable to make complete sentences, and one look at her rather recently acquired large assets led him to taking her virginity in the back of his Grand Cherokee. She fucked him for two weeks straight until he opened his mouth and actually started talking, and then all interest in him and completely vanished.

But sheesh this hottie was no comparison. She liked how pouty his lips were and how strong his hands looked; he had thick arms and shoulders for a man who looked like he sat in a tiny room trying to discover the Big Bang all day long. For some reason though, she knew he looked oddly familiar. It was on the tip of her tongue; she tried to catalogue his face and features but shit it was hard to do when ogling him. She picked up the apple and took her first bite. Glancing at his glasses her mind bounced around with unanswered questions and she spoke up to voice one.

Dr. Hottie, who had turned back to his microscope when she wasn't paying attention looked up with surprise and gasped.

* * *

><p>"Why do you look so familiar, Dr. Hottie?" asked an airy, young voice directly across from him.<p>

Bruce jumped slightly and took a deep gasp of air, and looked up from the microscope of irradiated blood from a capuchin monkey and into a pair of bright hazel-green eyes hidden behind thick Ray-Ban horn rimmed glasses.

_'Breathe Bruce!'_ he tells himself as he is slightly surprised from his unexpected visit. He doesn't want his blood pressure to climb.

"Ughhh –" was the only capable response he was able to make, his mouth hanging open dumbly as he pulled the glasses from where they were lodged in his unruly hair down to his nose so he could see a bit better.

A girl – young woman – was sitting on one of the work stools, leaning over his scattered paperwork with an intense gaze on her face, giving her a small wrinkle between her eyes. Her brown hair was loose and had a life all it's own as it framed her face and her shoulder and – _Oh Jesus _– her ample…bosom. She brought a green apple to her mouth and took a bite without breaking eye contact all the while staring at him and expecting an answer. She smelled intoxicatingly good.

"Ughhh …" he was at a lost for words. Who the hell was she, he hadn't remembered seeing her before today, and up until three or four hours ago when Coulson had shown up he had been working on his own for the greater part of the afternoon. He tried thinking of the young women he had come in contact with in the past few months, but he couldn't put a name to the face. He would have remembered the small beauty marks that aligned as an obtuse triangle on her face and her large pouty pink lips.

A part of him was slightly mortified that someone who didn't look like they belonged to SHIELD or any other government agency knew he was the Hulk. He swallowed hard, his mouth dry as he tried to grasp the bits and pieces of his scattered thoughts as his mind reeled.

"I swear I've seen you before; but I didn't take any science courses at Culver, you know besides working with Jane," she says calmly. And then very dramatically she drops her voice in a bad caricature of a cartoon villain, "And then you know the whole god of Thunder thing happened, and I'm hoping I can talk about it now because I mean we are in a super secret sect of the government." God, he must have been hallucinating now, because there was no way someone got past the security of his lab; or SHIELD security. He should probably get some help but all he could think of was how delicious she looked.

"Ughhh …well, ughhh," Somewhere in the depths of his mind he hears the inner beast growling menacingly at him, but at the sight of this young woman he grunts in approval at her tit – lady chest area.

"_Darcy!_ Stop harassing that poor man and come here and help me get out of this place," yelled a voice behind him. Again he jumps and takes a deep breath of air to calm him as a petite brunette peeks into the room from his doorway.

He immediately recognizes the face. Well, sort of. Dr. Jane Foster had been a student of astrophysics at Culver University Science Center and had continued despite the overwhelming hole he (literally) left in the physics department when he was unable to do continue his work. A fellow colleague, he had kept up with her work over the years as she continued to study the theory of the Einstein-Rosen Bridge. When he was lucky he would pick up a scientific journal at bookstores or even browse the Internet if he was lucky enough to get a feasible connection. It was harder to do once he lost his computer but he had learned to live without it.

She took one step forward and immediately jumped back in shock as she recognized his face.

"Oh my god you are Dr. Banner!" she exclaimed. He flinched, once people recognized him it all went downhill from there; either they knew he had been on the run (for whatever made up reason the government decided on that day) or they knew about his Hulk identity (which was never the preferable option). She started doing a really awkward hop-skip-run towards him.

"I prefer to call him Dr. Hottie," said the woman now sitting behind him putting down her half-eaten apple. He turned his head to her quickly his mind still reeling from his current situation, and giving him whiplash. How the hell did they get in here?

"You probably don't remember me sir, I was Dr. Selvig's assistant at the time, I a student when you had your ummm accident I guess, well you know, and I've just been so happy to meet you, oh god it like I'm meeting my idol," her words tumbled out as she grasped his hand with both of hers and shook it enthusiastically. He looked back at Dr. Foster with apprehension.

"Ughhh, nice to meet you?" his voice didn't sound too assuring but he tried smiling.

"Don't sound so excited there Doc, maybe you need to squint a little harder to see her better," the Darcy girl – _woman_ – said standing from her stool to where Jane was still trying to dislocate his hand from his shoulder.

"Jane!" she snapped at her and smiled at him as she easily separated them. Darcy's hand was warm and slightly sticky from the apple, and as soon as she let go he immediately pulled back as if he had been burned.

"We will be going now Dr. Hottie," Darcy said not noticing his reaction. The pair of girls shuffled their way to the door. Dr. Foster was still staring at him with the ardor and affection most fan girls usually reserved for Steve or Tony because they were the "hot guys" of their odd little chemistry experiment called the Avengers.

"Say bye Jane," Darcy commanded the older woman, who was still ogling with a rather intense and bright smile. Unable to form words Dr. Foster gave a small finger wave as she was herded away from him.

"Bye," he responded shyly as she shut the thick black door behind her.

From the other side he could hear Dr. Foster ask in a dazed voice, "Dr. Hottie?"

"What?" came the jovial response, and the girls giggled as they walked away.

Well that was weird.

_'**Mine**,' _came a possessive voice dark and deep inside his mind.

He sighed deeply and ran his hand through his hair trying to forget the warmth of her skin or the smell of her apple scented breath as she spoke to him.

This day was going to end in disaster.

* * *

><p>Darcy absolutely fucking hated flying so when Jane told her that they were going to go to New York (in the next two minutes apparently) she kind of bit off her head.<p>

"I thought your office was here?" she asked irritated.

"I did too! But apparently Mr. Stark wants me working directly with him in Stark Towers," Jane replied sheepishly. "I'm sorry Darcy, I know I have been dragging you up and down the east coast –"

"And Europe," interjected Darcy

"– But I promise I will make it up to you so hard. Please, please, please don't abandon me to the super spy / super hero wolves. They bite!" Jane folded her hands in the typical begging position and was giving her the Dr. Foster patented 'Please don't cut my funding' puppy eyes.

She leaned further back into the corner of the elevator, and pulled her purse strap from where it had buried itself in her cleavage giving Jane a full-on stink eye. "Fine!" she huffed and Jane smiled at her knowing that her best friend would never let her down. "But you owe me!" she threw in quickly.

"I will pay you with all of my love and affection and maybe an actual salary this time," Jane replied as the elevator that was moving (up, down, sideways?) opened to the roof of the building. On the tarmac stood a giant aircraft of some type. She only knew the difference between a regular airplane with crappy ass seats, smelly babies and the annoying little old ladies who would not shut up during a nine-hour flight and a helicopter. She had only ever been in the former, never the latter. So when she looked up so see half a skyscraper with wings the only thing she could think of saying was, "We are going to New York in _that_‽"

"Apparently," Jane replied wide-eyed and unrepentant of her death grip on Darcy's right arm.

A tall strawberry blond agent walked up to them and with all the grace of a flight attendant who just made the mile high club and said, " Welcome Dr. Foster and Miss Lewis, if you would be so kind as to follow me I will take you to you onboard so that we might prepare for take off."

"Uh-huh, sure," said Darcy following Miss Thang into the side-ways Chrysler Building. Despite the uncomfortable death grip that was currently giving her bruises she was very glad to be holding on to someone. She hated flying. She felt like she was going to throw up, or cry, or both. It was like waking up from a frat party and knowing you were still drunk off your ass.

"You OK?" Jane asked as they walked up the steps. Jane had had the dubious pleasure of witnessing her freak-outs before.

"Mhmm…" she mumbled softly, she didn't trust herself to vomit on one of Charlie's Angels.

"On board the ship you may sit wherever you please, but do not get up until we land."

"Of course," said Jane.

On the ship there were at least 100 men and women piled on with one or two empty seats in between each person. Each row was packed towards the front but there was a large section at the rear that was entirely empty. Most of those onboard were dressed in suits or business attire. Others were dressed more covertly as the homeless, waiters, cooks, doctors, and Captain America?

'_Wait, what?_' Darcy did a double take, "That's Captain America!" she not so silently whisper-yelled into Jane's ear.

"It is!" she replied just as enthusiastic. She already had an alien boyfriend god; why not go make friends with his legendary team member?

At the far left end of the carrier sat the lonesome Mr. Red, White and Blue reading what looked like Kurt Vonnegut's _Slaughterhause Five._ Darcy pushed her way back through the aisles until there was nobody left but Mr. July. She quickly muttered excuses to get through. Jane was dragged along and didn't even complain as Darcy pushed her down into the empty seat on the Captain's left while she sat next to him on the right.

"I have this disease late at night sometimes, involving alcohol and the telephone," Darcy quoted to him.

With big bright eyes and an adorable smile (my god this creature was like water to a dying man), Steve Rogers looked up at them intrigued.

"Excuse me Miss?" he asked politely, and frowned with confusion. He sounded just like a character from a Carry Grant film.

"And so it goes?" she tried again.

"Ah!" he caught on quickly. "I'm sorry I am still trying to acquaint myself with the popular culture references of this time." He smiled shyly. "Steve Rodgers ma'am," he said putting out his hand for her to shake.

"Darcy Lewis at your service!" she said shaking his hand and added a made-up handshake à la Fresh Prince. He took it awkwardly and then shook Jane's hand. Jane didn't latch on like last time but smiled shyly.

"Dr. Jane Foster," she said with a smile, "I believe you have met my umm, boyfriend I guess I should call him."

"Yes, ma'am he has told us so much about you. We had the rather unfortunate pleasure of running into his brother. He's a nice fellow, a bit odd," he replied marking the place in his book with a pen and stashing it inside his brown leather jacket.

_'For a man this adorable you would think he had a better taste in style. He dresses like Grandpa,' _Darcy thought.

Jane and Captain America quickly dove into conversation about his recent whereabouts and about her recent hiring into SHIELD for research. Two minutes in he abruptly turned his head to the front of the aircraft and raised his hand, "Over here!" he yelled over the rows of agents, but she couldn't see to whom it was directed. They continued their conversation as if nothing had occurred.

Whoever was coming their way parted the noise of the aircraft like the Red sea. Those on board immediately quieted down to a stifling silence, and those settled tried to bury themselves further into their seats. Besides Jane and Steve it was so quiet she could here the silent footfalls of the person walking towards the empty end.

It was Dr. Banner from the lab. Facing downwards he quickly shuffled his way back towards their group as those around them held their breadth waiting for him to pass. He was awkwardly carrying several binders with papers sticking out asking politely to be excused in a quiet voice, even though nobody stood in his path. His glasses were slightly askew and he had an ink stain on the front of his shirt; Darcy smiled knowing he was coming her way. She momentarily forgot that she was afraid to be on the monstrosity of an airplane.

"H-Hi," he mumbled quietly, taking the lone seat directly across from Steven and as far away from any other human as possible. He hugged his work a bit closer and pushed his glasses up his face with his shoulder. He glanced up at them and quickly looked down, avoiding any form of eye contact.

"Good afternoon Doctor," greeted Steve happily. Dr. Banner looked as uncomfortable as she felt.

"Dr. Banner it's so good to see you again so soon," said Jane. She was practically radiating with joy at seeing him twice in one day.

"Have you met Dr. Banner?" asked Steve. He had probably wanted to make the introductions being a proper gentleman and all.

"We've met," said Darcy saucily. She adjusted her purse and wiggled down into the seat.

"Oh, good. Dr. Foster is going to be helping us with a few projects." He said to Bruce, even though it looked like he was ignoring him. "Are you a scientist as well, Miss Darcy? I don't mean to presume," asked the Captain.

"Political scientist, and almost lawyer," she replied, "I can be very persuasive."

"You don't seem like the type to be working in such an uncouth profession," he said.

"You're right, but I enjoy it. I don't think of myself as much of the science type."

"I came to acquire some modern humor about lawyers and solicitors. What do you call 1,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?" he asked (as if it wasn't the oldest joke in the book).

"A good start," Darcy replied. Steve gave her a toothy smile and nodded. She and the Captain were going to get along just fine.

The doors of the aircraft slammed shut with a thunderous _crack_ and Darcy nearly jumped out of her seat, grabbing her armrest and Steve's right leg in a vice grip.

"It's started, I'm going to die. I don't want to die; this is such a horrible death," she said shakily.

"Darcy, stop being such a drama queen," said Jane leaning over trying to pry her fingers away from Steve's leg. Jane mouthed a quick 'sorry' to him as she fought Darcy's death like grip. Steve leaned back uncomfortable with the situation and Dr. Banner chuckled quietly.

"Hate flying?" he asked.

"I'm in a giant metal box, tilted sideways that uses sheer luck and explosive to hurtle it's way through the air," she said shutting her eyes and taking deep gulping breaths. When she opened them both men were looking at her with worry.

"That's not how it works and you know it," said Jane.

"I think the aeronautic technology has come a long way since I started. The hellicarriers are quite nice. Dr. Banner even said we put a man on the moon."

"With explosives. Lots and lots of explosives," she replied hyperventilating. Steve patted her hand (that was now on the seat rest), but said nothing more.

"Just breath and you will be fine," Dr. Banner explained calmly. His voice was a soft baritone, and she tried concentrating on it. He looked at her with sympathy, "It will make the queasiness go away: in your nose and out of your mouth. That's good," he coached her until her quick breaths came a little more regularly. When they started moving she started hyperventilating again.

"It's not working."

"Keep breathing," he said again.

"I'm not in labor."

"What?" Steve asked in an airy confused tone. He probably hadn't caught up to speed with Lamaze classes yet.

"I don't want to die," she said again.

"You won't die," the doctor replied. He set down his research leaned forward and grabbed her wrist, checking her pulse. She got an eyeful down his shirt and tried concentrating on the beautiful sight that was his chest. It was only fair; she knew her boobs were trying to claw their way out of her shirt as she heaved for air and he did just glance at them even if he refused to make eye contact.

When they finally took off she leaned forward and put her head in between her knees, using one hand to protect her head from any oncoming (and imaginary) debris as the other was loosely held in the warm grip of Dr. Banner until he pulled away with a jerk of his fingers.

That was how they flew to New York. She didn't pay attention to the conversation by the other three, or how fast or how long it was, she just breathed calmly in through her nose and out through her mouth.

"How did she make it all the way to Sweden on a plane," voice A asked.

"Exactly like this. I had to drug her when we got to the airport just to get her through security but even then she was half-hysterical," said voice B. Voice B was Jane. She liked Jane. Jane wouldn't let her die like this. Her obituary would be pathetic.

"I don't think this is very efficient," said voice C, definitely Dr. Banner.

'_Dr. Hottie,'_ she thought.

When they landed Jane kneeled into her eye level and pushed her hair behind her ears. "We made it sweetie," she said calmly. Darcy could handle a lot of things but her irrational fear of flying was not one of them. Jane had understood and handled it for her. She slowly looked up as the other flyers on the aircraft that waited for them to get off board. Apparently they were the only ones getting off.

"This is our stop," said Steve smiling at her and offering her a hand. All was good with the world once more. As she stood and righted herself she noticed that Dr. Banner was blatantly ignoring them and isolating himself from the rest of the group by putting an invisible wall between him and Jane who was standing closest to him.

They made their way off this ship and she was relieved to be back in the fresh air. They were on Stark Tower. As they walked off the carrier they were greeted by a welcome party: Tony Stark, the Iron Man, stood haughtily with his hands crossed over his chest and a smirk plastered onto his handsome face; Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries, 2012 Time Magazine's Person of the Year stood at his side., and some other random dude with a fat face and nice smile.

"Welcome back guys! Welcome Miss Lewis and Dr. Foster to Stark Tower," she greeted happily.

"-Avengers Tower," interjected Tony.

"-To the Tower. We are thrilled you will be joining us," she only slightly corrected as they made their way over. Dr. Banner stood the farthest back and seemed to not be paying much attention. The Captain, Tony and Pepper all said their quick and familiar helloes before being cut off.

"Dr. Banner, Mr. Rodgers, Mr. Stark the director will be arriving shortly if you would like to make your way to the conference room on sub level 12," said an out-of-body English voice.

"Thank you JARVIS. May I introduce you to Miss Darcy Lewis and Dr. Jane Foster? Ladies this is JARVIS," said Pepper, " He is our artificially intelligent computer program that maintains the Tower, if you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask him."

"This is so cool," whispered Jane to Darcy.

"Yes, I am," replied JARVIS and the girls giggled.

Tony Stark ran his eyes up and down Darcy in a manner that she thought might have been sexual had he not been staring at her as if she were an interesting bacterium growing in a petri dish. He did the same with Jane, his smirk spreading with an amusement only he knew of.

"Dr. Foster I believe you have continued your work in Convergence since London, and that you have been able to apply those algorithms to Superluminal travel," Stark said.

"Yes that's right. Darcy has been helping me map any correlations we have made with the wormholes appearing after my return," Steve looked as if he had just bitten into a lemon as he failed to understand what was being said.

"Don't worry I don't get it either," said Darcy to him, and she smiled reassuring him.

"How did you come to work for Dr. Foster if you don't understand it?" he asked politely.

"I was the only one to apply to the program, and as the only candidate I was hand-picked to work with her. We've been buds ever since."

"Will you be continuing your work with Dr. Foster?" asked Pepper. But Tony answered for her as he pulled out his phone and started playing a Tetris-like game.

"You were only several semesters away from graduating with a degree in Civil Law. I have talked to the Dean of Admissions at Columbia Law where you will finish your degree. I don't understand what a lawyer is doing working in an astrophysics laboratory, but maybe you will use your power for good instead of trying to work at the Senate."

"We are under construction at the moment so you will be set up at one of our Penthouse locations, you can chose which one, I don't give a rat's ass either way. Pepper can use you as an assistant until then, and if you feel the need to continue helping Dr. Foster eat her weight in cinnamon Pop tarts than so be it," he said not bothering to look up at her.

"How did you –"

"Well, got a meeting to attend. Brucy, Cap' we don't want to leave his highness waiting," he said turning around and not bothering to wait.

"Please don't call me Brucy," whined Dr. Banner shyly.

Steve shrugged at him and followed after Tony into the building. Pepper, Jane and Darcy followed close behind.

The building was a post-modern architect's wet dream. The floors were a polished gray slate; the ceilings were vaulted and tall. Redwood and chrome accents flowed through the corridors to an elevator where the three men were awaiting them

"Will I really be your assistant?" Darcy asked Pepper.

"I had put out a request I didn't think he had known about it. He usually doesn't pay attention to what is right in front of his nose. We can talk about it, if you want," Pepper said. Her phone went off, " Please excuse me Ladies," she said pulling it out and walked off down a separate corridor from where they were.

Jane smiled until she had walked off then turned to Darcy, "You promised not to leave me with the wolves," she said as they walked to the end of the corridors

"Don't worry, we won't bite unless you ask," said Tony winking at her. Steve threw him a dark look and Dr. Banner shuffled his weight from side to side. They walked into the awaiting elevator as JARVIS announced to which floor they would be going.

Inside Dr. Banner had secluded himself off in the corner, trying to give as much space as possible between him and the group. She didn't understand why he was being so awkward. Did he not like them? Was he allergic to human touch? As the elevator opened, two other people, a quiet blonde hunk with exposed arms and a woman with shockingly bright red hair greeted them. Everyone but Bruce replied.

* * *

><p>Thor, Bruce realized, was a giant horny teenager. As soon as their small group had entered the conference room, he had jumped over the table where he was and pulled Jane up into his arms and preceded to kiss her <em>quite<em> thoroughly.

"My Jane, how I have missed you since our last encounter," he proclaimed.

"Hi…" she replied quietly, probably embarrassed by the public display of affection. He pulled her closer to him and began whispering quietly in her ear.

"I'm sorry I don't believe I asked you two lovebirds to Hotel California," said Nick Fury with a bite in his voice. Thor quickly dropped Jane to her feet and Darcy smirked. Each individual took their seats, and he sat on the opposite side, closer to the hard walls than the group. Nick Fury had gone deep undercover and did not make many appearances since his "death", but even with sunglasses, black jeans and button down shirt he still had the air of a man who could kill you with his pinky.

"Dr. Foster, Miss Lewis you have been called by SHIELD to recreate the graphic dimensions of Convergence that occurred in England. You will continue under the protective custody as you do so. You will be returned your work of space dimension theory and will continue to research the Wormholes," Fury commanded.

"That's good and all, but I don't really think I need to be here," said Darcy speaking up from where she was sandwiched between Thor and Steve.

"Oh and do enlighten us, Ms. Lewis as to what you would be preferring to do instead," he replied his voice thick with sarcasm.

"Going back to school, getting my degree? Having a social life! I'm not a scientist! I don't know physics, I don't know how planes work!" she complained gesticulating wildly with her arms. Jane threw her a dirty look and rolled her eyes.

"You know too much information about what occurred in New Mexico and London. At this time the Avengers feel it would be better to keep you close," said the hot redhead.

"You can continue to work with Dr. Foster and will be given the opportunity to finish your higher education or you can chose to be placed in one of the other protective custodies at SHIELD's disposal. I hear Siberia is beautiful this time of year," said Fury. The clean up process of SHIELD after the infiltration of Hydra was still in effect but they had still helped to protect Darcy and Dr. Foster.

"I'll be good." She sat back glumly.

'_Don't worry kid I know how it feels,' he thought._

"Dr. Banner were you able to uncover the information you needed?" asked Fury changing topics. All eyes turned to him.

"No, a lot of the information has been destroyed or is still missing. JARVIS is currently running a virus on what was left of Armin Zola's consciousness but we don't believe much will be recovered. There is still a lot we don't know about the chemical composition that kept the Winter Soldier –

" – Bucky," said Steve tersely, cutting him off.

"Bucky," Bruce corrected, "alive. From what I can gather from my own samples and that of Steve's is that the genetic manipulation that took place allowed him to survive being cryogenically frozen while maintaining a coma-like consciousness. My only guesses are highly hypothetical and cannot be proven. Steve's genetic makeup has shown signs of delayed aging, progressive health and immunity to most human illness. There is a similarity between his and uh Bucky's. My own is complete immune. But I do not know how my samples differ due to the radiation of my own makeup. The radiation in my composition almost cancels any of the Super Solider serum properties. Bucky's composition, while most similar to Steve's, does not show signs of radiation or advanced mutation. I don't know how he was being coerced."

"Why are you comparing those samples against yourself?" asked Darcy simply.

"Excuse me?" Bruce asked looking at her. She was unflinchingly staring at him, the little dimple in-between her eyebrows showing again. Her intense gaze was new to him. He was unaccustomed to people looking at him directly.

"I mean I get Steve he's like 100, and this Winter Soldier guy I'm guessing is a villain or something. But why are you testing yourself? Isn't that kind of dangerous? Can't you get a lab rat or an undertrained underpaid assistant to do that? Jane always did."

"Hey!" Jane complained and Thor started laughing. Stark looked at her, then to him, then back at her.

"Oh this is quite fantastic!" he said maniacally.

"Tony – "

"You don't know do you?" he asked Darcy with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest, " I mean come on, you can't be that simple."

"What are you talking about?" she asked offended by his comment.

'_She doesn't know,_' he thought a bit relieved. She had treated him so normally because she didn't understand what it is he was. In that moment he hated himself just a little more.

"Well you see Miss Lewis, we are the Avengers," said guy with hot arms, as he extended his hand as if that was going to explain it all.

"Hawkeye, Thor, Black Widow," he said pointing at each person, "Iron Man, Captain America? Anybody missing?" he was downright giddy that Darcy hadn't figured it out. His heart rate monitor started to beep.

"Dr. Banner is – "

"Shut up Tony," he said with more spite than needed, and they all turned to him again. Inside someone was starting to boil with anger. This wasn't a joke – at least not to him.

"I didn't watch much T.V. in college, and in London and Sweden I barely had time to look up from Jane's paperwork to watch my shows on Netflix. I mean I know what happened in New York and that you're still recovering but what does that have to do with the Dr.? You're just a scientist like Jane right?," she said explaining, looking to him for answers. The monitor was beeping louder.

"Dr. Banner – " Tony started.

"I said to shut the fuck up!" he slammed his hand down on the table with force. It bounced, spreading his paperwork and immediately Fury, Clint and Natasha all had guns out at him; Steve had his shield over the women and Thor had his hammer pointed at him. Tony was smirking as he leaned back into his seat. He immediately put his hands up in the air in a nonthreatening manner, and they slowly put his their weapons down. Jane and Darcy gawked at him awkwardly.

"He is the Hulk, Ms. Lewis," Tony said with glee, and put his hands behind his head, getting comfortable. His heart rate monitor was beeping wildly but he started to calm.

"O…kay. I still don't get it, what does that have to do with the samples?" she said. Her face didn't change or look at any way shocked by the revelation. The others around her had quieted not knowing how to answer. _'She doesn't know he thought_' and part of him was relieved and yet slightly disgusted with it all. Bruce leaned back and hung his head in shame, staring hard at the divots he put into the table.

"Are you done with your show Mr. Stark?" Fury asked incensed. He felt his cheeks burning with shame and inside the monster growled.

"Do your ways amuse you Man of Iron?" asked Thor. The doctor and her assistant would probably know better now, they would avoid him now for their own good.

"Never said it was for amusement," Tony replied smugly.

"Doctor do you believe that the sample you were able to take will help find out how HYDRA manipulated him?" Steve asked changing to topic abruptly, and he was glad for it. He lowered his hands to the table again and tried to clear his mind searching for an answer. He knew it had been a difficult transition for Steve to realize that his closest friend had been used as a lackey for the organization responsible for some of the greatest atrocities of WWII. He knew their bond had helped Steve become that man he was now. He looked up at Steve struggling to piece together his rambling thoughts.

Darcy looked annoyed that no one had answered her properly. She fidgeted in her chair and kept her intense green eyes on him. The tension in the room was thick, and directed at him.

"I don't know," he replied unsure what to Steve. He sighed; a headache was forming behind his eyes.

"Well find out," commanded Fury. "The more we know our enemy the better off we are to capture them. Mr. Stark, that look on your face worries me. If you believe what you are thinking to be crucial to our operation than voice it, however if there is a nefarious plot working in your mind, then I suggest you rethink it. If I catch you doing anything untoward again, there will be consequences."

"Just thinking," he said as innocently raising his hands in the air like a kid who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Tony smirked at him. Bruce didn't like that face. It was the same face he made when he provoked the beast by setting his lab coat on fire or by firing lasers over his head.

"Mhmmm. You will submit any of your findings and that of Dr. Banner and Dr. Foster to Agent Romanoff. She will ensure that I receive it promptly." At that he turned and left the room without a backward glance. It wasn't a request; it was a command. '_Figure your shit out,' _is what he should have said instead. It irked him that the weight of this would be on him.

"Yes sir," Tony replied sarcastically and winked at Darcy.

"What the hell was that?" she asked raising an eyebrow in question, then turned to look at Jane who just shrugged at her.

_'A disaster,' _Bruce groaned.


End file.
